


Twitterpated

by BunnySings



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Episode: s17e20 The Arizona, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23864365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnySings/pseuds/BunnySings
Summary: Nowadays, he often found himself on the verge of spilling his guts to someone… McGee, Bishop... hell, even Torres.It was particularly dangerous to be around Jack. She unraveled him in ways that he no longer thought were possible.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 15
Kudos: 114





	Twitterpated

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to jenni3penny for the beta, the hand-holding and general ego stroking.

He arrived at the hospital and waited. Hospital waiting rooms could be such lonely places. He didn’t even know this man, really. And yet, he was so affected by his story and his life, he couldn’t help but be involved. Anyway, there was no one else; no family or friends. 

He knew in his gut that Joe’s story was true; he just didn’t know how to prove it.

He knew he had no one to blame but himself; he was the one who burned rule 10. He blew out a breath. He smirked to himself and thought about smacking his own head. As if having rule 10 still safely in its place would have prevented him from becoming “personally involved”. He'd been breaking that rule long before Bishop decimated it. 

Seemed like everyone knew that he didn't really follow that particular rule, anyway. 

He sighed. And waited. 

A man alone with his thoughts was a dangerous thing. 

Joe had shared some of his deepest pain today, all for the sake of proving his story. Granted, he was unwilling at the time, but he said it had helped lighten his heart. Helped so much he encouraged Gibbs to do the same. 

A snort of derision escaped as he contemplated sharing his experiences with someone. It had been so long since he had really confided in anyone about anything. Sounded like Joe had been talking to Grace. Talk about your problems, she said. It’ll help, she said! 

Turns out, all it did was poke holes in his carefully constructed walls and leave him open to all those emotions he'd been burying deep inside. And, as the walls came crashing down, it left him vulnerable to new ones, too. 

Nowadays, he often found himself on the verge of spilling his guts to someone… McGee, Bishop... hell, even Torres. 

It was particularly dangerous to be around Jack. She unraveled him in ways that he no longer thought were possible. 

This, of course, led him to his current predicament. He had been hemming and hawing about taking that next step with her for, well, years, if he were perfectly honest. 

He'd been hoping that something would happen to push them together. Or, maybe, she would have the courage to make the first move. He sure didn't have the courage to do it. He had given her opportunities to make her feelings known, and every time, she seemed on the verge of saying something. Anything. But, then, nothing. Which left him wondering if they were even in the same book, let alone on the same page. 

But why on earth would she want anything from him beyond friends and colleagues? He was no longer a young man, or even a middle-aged man… he'd been around the block more times than he cared to count.

But there were moments; moments when he was sure she wanted him as much as he wanted her. 

This was not one of those moments. 

He came to her office that morning, coffee in hand, just the way she liked it. She smiled brightly, when she saw him, and it warmed him much more thoroughly than his coffee ever would. 

He wasn’t entirely sure what had come over him. One minute he was on a mission, delivering coffee, and the next minute, he was stammering over a dinner invitation, like some love-sick teenager.

"Ah! You brought me coffee!" She batted her eyes and swooned. "My hero!" She reached out to accept the gift, her fingers brushing over his. A frisson of desire shot through him, as her fingers lingered just a bit longer than was necessary. He was positive she did it on purpose, just to rile him up. “Thank you, so much. And the sugar,” she hummed with pleasure, “is perfect!” 

He stood there, watching her drink her coffee, feeling ridiculously warm in the face of her praise. 

"Gibbs? Are you ok?" She got up from her desk and moved directly in front of him. 

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Fine." He smiled slightly and turned toward the door. He paused and turned back. 

"Jack, I… been wonderin’... " The words faded from his mind as she looked at him expectantly. He frowned and huffed a laugh. He blinked rapidly as his eyes landed on the elephant painting behind her. She tilted her head, trying to meet his eyes. 

A strangled noise escaped his throat. "What I mean is-" His hand raked through his hair nervously. Pull it together, Marine! You've had dinner with her before! Spit it out! 

"Havedinnerwithme." Smooth, Jethro. Very smooth. 

Her bewildered smile did little to calm his nerves. "Sure. What are we having? Cowboy steaks? It's been awhile since I let you char meat for me." 

She waggled her eyebrows as she sidled up to him. Her hand reached out to rest on his chest. He watched in fascination as her hand curled around his lapel and she smoothed her fingers up and down the fabric. 

His mouth went dry as she invaded his space. He shook his head. "No. Out."

"Out. To dinner. With you." Her mouth quirked up in a smile. "What’s with all the nervousness and stuttering? It’s not like we haven’t had dinner together before. Why all the histrionics?” She slapped her hand playfully against his chest. "Oh my god! That was excruciating!” Her laughter washed over him and fed his humiliation.

His embarrassment constricted his breathing. A frustrated sigh alerted her to his distress. She raised her head to look him in the eye. His face contorted in irritation as he avoided her glance. She tugged on his lapels with both hands. He tried to step back, but she tightened her grip on his jacket. 

"Askin’ you to dinner, Sloane. You wanna go, or not?” A hard edge had creeped into his voice. He pulled away from her grip and inched his way nearer to the door. 

She studied him for a moment and he shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. Her eyebrows climbed up her forehead and her mouth fell open. "You- you mean, like a date? With you?" 

He nodded stiffly and his jaw flexed.

He felt heat creeping up his neck and his ears started to burn as he waited for her response. When she remained mute, he gave a half-hearted shrug and scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. 

"Guess I'm a little out of practice," he mumbled to the floor, wishing it would swallow him. He cleared his throat and turned back to the door. "Forget it." In two strides, he was out of her office, pulling her door shut behind him. 

"Gibbs! Wait!" He heard her running after him, so he lengthened his stride. He looked down into the bullpen to see several heads snap up to the landing. He glowered down at them and their eyes all dropped back to their desks. 

His gait had slowed just enough for her to seize him by the arm. "Gibbs!" she hissed, trying to avoid the attention of all the agents in the building. She glanced down at the bullpen warily. She pulled him away from the stairs, to try and minimize their audience.

"What, Jack?" His brows pinched together in annoyance. He straightened up to his full height and brought the full weight of the Gibbs Glare upon her. 

Her gaze faltered for a second, but she regained her composure quickly. “I... I’m sorry.” He’d always admired the way she unflinchingly met his stares. He tried to muster up a sterner stare as she moved in closer to touch him again. 

“I’m sorry, truly, I am. You just surprised me. You were so flustered and awkward… it was adorable, really.” He grunted in embarrassment and tried to escape back toward the stairs, but she followed him.

“You can be quite charming, you know, even when you aren't really trying. I just wasn’t expecting,”she gestured wildly between them. “Well, I don’t know what I was expecting.” A sigh escaped as her head dropped in defeat. He took her momentary distraction and attempted to maneuver back to the stairs. 

“And, now I’m babbling and going on and on, just like you were.” She peeked up at him, her embarrassment shining through her smile. She glanced toward the stairs, noticing how far they had drifted, and pulled him back away from the railing. 

“How about tonight?" She gripped his arm more tightly than was necessary and she smiled hopefully. 

"Yeah?" He couldn’t stop sheer relief from creeping into his tone. 

She snorted in frustration. "Seriously? After all the time we've spent together? Of course! Did you actually think I would say no, Special Agent Gibbs?" 

Her mocking tone didn’t go unnoticed. He could just hear the air quotes around his title. All sass, this one. His mouth twitched. 

"Wasn't sure." He attempted to remain nonchalant, and keep his delight in check, but suspected he failed miserably. She rewarded him with the most exaggerated eyeroll he had ever seen. 

She smacked him lightly on the stomach. “Legendary gut doesn’t give dating advice, huh?” 

He huffed with feigned indignation. “Might have a better track record with women, if it did.” 

She blew out a breath in relief as she fingered his lapels again and tugged him closer to her. He watched, mesmerized, as she raised up to whisper in his ear, "Honestly, I thought I was gonna have to throw myself at you the next time you had me over for drinks." Her breath was warm on his cheek. Her nose brushed tentatively along his jawline. 

This woman could drive all coherent thought right out of his mind. All he could think about was the proximity of her mouth and how easy it would be to capture it with his. He swayed closer to her, almost unsteady on his feet. 

Their intimate bubble burst as they heard someone coming up the stairs. They sprung apart like teenagers caught making out in the hallway. She chewed on her lower lip nervously as the other agent greeted them and wandered off down the hall. 

He snickered as he sauntered back to her. He leaned down and muttered in her ear, "We'll save yours for after dinner, ok?" She batted him away with a smile. He was pleased to see a pink stain spreading across her cheeks as she headed back to her office.

After that, the day had gotten away from him. He was so wrapped up in proving Joe’s story to be true. Everything that had seemed so promising went downhill quickly. Joe’s story and the purple heart had him pulled in several directions. Leon wanted him to focus on finding the purple heart and not on the veracity of Joe's story. But to him they were one and the same. The purple heart would turn up. He felt strongly about proving Joe’s story, and it stung that Jack didn't feel the same way. He had gotten used to her support in cases, and took it personally when she opposed him. 

His frustrated groan shattered the silence in the waiting room. Tired of pacing, he slumped down into an uncomfortable chair in the waiting room. 

Leroy Jethro Gibbs, breakin' his own damn rules left and right. He grunted in disgust at his own weakness. 

He knew she was there before she appeared. It was as if he had conjured her out of thin air. He needed her. Somehow, she knew and she appeared. They seemed to be developing a 6th sense about the other. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. 

She moved into the room and sat down next to him. Almost a little too close to be acceptable. No wonder everyone thought they were “a thing”, whatever the hell that meant.

As she settled into her seat, they drifted slightly closer to each other, and he felt some of his tension seep away. He sighed. Damn her. 

She looked at him and waited. 

She was leaning into him, or maybe he was leaning into her? It didn't matter… she was warm and close, and he wanted nothing more than to just sink into her comfort. But, self-sabotage was just so tempting, like picking at a scab before it’s fully healed. 

“Whaddaya want, Jack? You come here to tell me I’m wrong again?” He winced internally at his tone, briefly contemplating how much harder he could push her before she walked away.

Her laugh sounded hollow to his ears. “I think you know what I want.” She pursed her lips. “Anyway, we had a date tonight, remember?” 

His eyes flicked over to hers. His hand twitched toward her, so he gripped his hands together more tightly. “I don’t wanna talk, Jack. In fact, I think we should forget about…” He trailed off as she put a finger to his lips. 

“Stop.” She shook her head. “I’m not here to make you talk. And, if we need to postpone tonight…” she shrugged, “well, that was always a possibility, right? I mean, I’ve waited almost 3 years. What’s another day or two?” 

He rolled his eyes at her and tried to shift away. She seemed to be even closer and he was finding it hard to concentrate on anything but her. 

“Jethro…” She placed her hand on his arm to calm his fidgeting. 

He flinched at the use of his name, and she retracted her hand. He wondered how something could be too much and not enough, all at the same time? 

He felt her sadness as she sighed. “Gibbs, we don’t have to talk, but don’t push me away." She paused, as if she were waiting for him to speak. 

"As for our date, I think you know you don’t have to take me anywhere. I don’t care if we’re at a restaurant, your house, or mine… or even here. I just want to be with you.” She slid her hand down his arm towards his hands and covered them. His hands twitched but he resisted the urge to pull away. "And, I think that's what you want, too. At least, I hope that's what you want."

Her name escaped his lips on a sigh. “Jack… this is a bad idea.” His head thumped back on the wall and he focused on a watermark on the ceiling. 

“Don’t,” she said quietly. “Don’t you dare.” Her hand cupped his cheek and turned his face toward her. He met her eyes reluctantly. “You don’t get to end us before we’ve really even begun.” Her thumb smoothed along his cheek and his eyes slipped shut. “ You can’t push me away every time I don’t wholeheartedly agree with you. It’s my job to provide another perspective. And you took it and set out to prove me wrong.” She smirked at him. “You never want to be right more than when I tell you might be wrong.” 

He snorted. “Thought maybe we might get through this conversation without you sassin’ me.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Ah, you love my sass.” She smiled as he pressed his cheek into her hand. 

Oh, he loved so much more than just her sass. He turned slightly to kiss her palm. “Yes,’ he breathed. “Yes, I do.” 

He stared at her for a moment, marveling at his sheer dumb luck. Just when he had sworn of women completely, fate dropped the perfect one right in his lap. He was a lucky bastard. 

In the end, he couldn’t say who closed that final distance between them. He thought it was him, but maybe, she was just as drawn to his lips as he was to hers. It was soft and sweet, but with just enough heat behind it that her lips followed his when it ended. 

A slow smile spread over his face as he continued to stare at her. Like a goddamned cartoon character with hearts over its eyes or something. “Thank you” he murmured “for sittin’ here with me.” 

Her twitterpated smile reflected his own.“You still have to take me to dinner." 

He nodded almost imperceptibly, still captivated by her face, her presence, her everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Disney's "Bambi", the only place I've ever heard the word 'twitterpated'. But, it perfectly described the way Gibbs was looking at Jack.


End file.
